First brokers charged in global criminal Libor-rigging probe

Two former RP Martin Holdings Ltd. employees in London became the first brokers to face criminal prosecution in the global probe of manipulation of the London interbank offered rate.

Terry Farr, 41, and James Gilmour, 48, were charged with conspiracy to defraud at a London police station this morning, the U.K. Serious Fraud Office said in an e-mailed statement. Farr and Gilmour, both from Essex, are the second and third suspects to be charged in the U.K. investigation.

The brokers were arrested in December along with Tom Hayes, the former UBS AG and Citigroup Inc. trader. Hayes was charged with eight counts of conspiracy to defraud by the SFO last month. Hayes, who remains free on bail, is charged with working with employees at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Rabobank Groep and Deutsche Bank AG, as well as Tullett Prebon Plc, ICAP Plc and RP Martin over a four-year period to manipulate yen Libor rates.

Hayes has also been charged by the U.S. Justice Department, which is running a parallel criminal investigation.

Farr and Gilmour are scheduled to appear at a London criminal court at a later date, the SFO said.